QGIS
Open SourceVerified
The free, open-source GIS that has become the default spatial platform for water engineers worldwide.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveQGIS HydrologyTerrain Analysis
ALOS World 3D (AW3D30)
StableJAXA's 30m global DSM from PRISM stereo imagery — a strong third opinion alongside SRTM and Copernicus DEM.
by JAXA
- Pricing
- Free
- License
- Free for any use after registration (JAXA terms of use)
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- GDAL, Any GIS, Google Earth Engine
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
About ALOS World 3D (AW3D30)
AW3D30 is JAXA's global digital surface model built from ALOS PRISM stereo imagery collected 2006–2011, gridded at 1 arc-second (~30m) and released free of charge for any use after simple registration. Independent evaluations consistently rank it competitively with — and in some forested/mountainous terrain, ahead of — SRTM and Copernicus DEM.
It's a useful cross-check DEM for terrain-sensitive studies (dam-break, steep-catchment delineation) where comparing two independent global models against local survey control is worth the extra download.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
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